Fathomed
by Austrian Artemis
Summary: The Ghost From the Grand Banks/Artemis Fowl crossover. When Artemis learns of the teams trying to raise the Titanic, he takes a trip to Conroy Castle to talk to the Craigs. Little does he know someone is there whom he can more than relate to. Ada/Artemis


Fathomed

The Ghost from the Grand Banks/Artemis Fowl crossover

Artemis analyzed the situation. He wasn't entirely sure if it could be done, but he knew that it would be one of the greatest feats of modern technology if it was done. Many people thought it was simply a conspiracy to get people in the scientific community worked up. Others thought it was a joke. Others thought it could be done with ease.

I am, of course, referring to the raising of the _R.M.S. Titanic_ on the centennial of its sinking. And Artemis, of course, was evaluating the possibility of it actually happening. Hearing about the people working on this seemingly impossible task, he wanted to speak with them about their ideas and procedures.

So, like a normal citizen of this new society we live in, he typed in into his address bar. When the white website and four-colored word popped up, he typed in "Donald and Edith Craig".

Within a few minutes, he was happy to find that they lived in Conroy Castle, which he happily discovered was only a couple hours away. Finding no email or phone information, he simply decided to make an uninvited visit.

Walking over to his door and pressing a button on the intercom, he spoke into the mic. "Butler, pull out the Bentley. We're going to Conroy Castle."

Though Artemis was seventeen, Butler insisted that he not drive. He was still his charge, and must take care of him. Artemis knew he was fortunate, not everyone had a bodyguard willing to die for them.

And some people need one.

Zn+1= Z2n+C

Pulling up to the main gate of Conroy Castle, he found out that the well-manicured lawn and the wrought-iron gates meant wealth. Extreme wealth. The Castle was the size of Fowl Manor, easily, and the estate itself was larger than that of the White House.

Butler spoke with the gatekeeper, who let him in half out of fright. They drove up in the circle drive, right to the door. Artemis got out of the passenger side, and clumsily half-ran up the steps of the front porch to the door. Though few rain drops found their way to his suit, he still brushed himself off. After a moment he stopped, realizing that water wouldn't come off with merely a brush. "Perhaps I'm a little too anxious to meet these people," he mused aloud, and rang the door bell.

A moment past, and a young female voice came out of the speaker. "Hello? Who is it?"

Artemis straightened his tie. "I am Artemis Fowl, from Fowl Manor around the outskirts of Dublin, I'm here to speak to the Craigs. Are they home?"

There was no response. Artemis assumed they thought he was a salesmen of some sort, so he began to turn back to the Bentley. However, he heard a click behind him, and turned to see a girl standing in the door, maybe fifteen or sixteen.

"I'm Ada Craig," she said, sticking out her hand for a shake. "My parents aren't home, they're in the States for some interviews and news reports. But I'm here. You're Artemis Fowl?"

Artemis politely returned the handshake, and frowned. "Yes, I am Artemis Fowl. If your parents aren't home, I'll just be going…"

He began to turn around, but Ada interrupted him by pulling on his sleeve. "Don't leave, it's always nice to have company. Please come in?" He large brown eyes pleaded.

Artemis, feeling guilty and slightly curious, turned back to Ada. "Alright, I'll stay. I'll tell Butler to go on home. He won't like that…"

Zn+1= Z2n+C

Artemis had called Butler to let him know he was staying, and Butler decided it was safest if he just waited outside rather than go all the way back home. Artemis decided this was satisfactory and left him alone.

Ada showed him around. "Well, welcome to Conroy Castle. It's kinda lonely here with my parents gone, and with it being the summer and all I don't get to see any of my friends from school. You're the first person anywhere near my age I've talked to since last month."

Artemis nodded, and thought something was a little odd. Maybe it was just the awkward situation. He wanted to talk about the raising of the _Titanic._

"So, your parents are working on the project to…" Artemis began.

Ada interrupted him and turned away, looking out a large window towards one of the many green lawns, watching the raindrops fall on the window. "…raise the stupid ship. I know. That's all anyone ever comes for any more. Nobody wants to come to just talk. Especially not to the geniuses' below-average daughter. What do you want to know? I can tell you pretty much everything."

Artemis was a little shocked. "What do you mean, below-average daughter? You seem intelligent in the way you speak, your vocabulary." Artemis was half-lying.

Ada looked out the window for a while before saying anything. "My parents are computer programmers. Masters of technology. Geniuses. They named me after the great Lady Lovelace, and I haven't lived up to their standards. I did bad in my math classes, even when I knew the teacher was wrong…"

"What do you mean when you say that you knew the teacher was wrong?" Artemis asked.

"I apparently have an over-developed sense of spatial reasoning. The only thing I have to show for it is my understanding of the Mandelbrot Set." Ada said, not looking back at him.

"Ah, fractals. You're very fortunate, Ada. Not many people have the ability to understand something like that." Artemis reasoned. Even he still had slight difficulty comprehending the infinite precision.

"I've noticed." She laughed, her arms crossed, and she glanced back at Artemis. "May I show you my computer program?" She turned fully back around, and clapped her hands together like a child.

"Of course, I'd love to see it." Artemis again half-lied. He'd created a program that generated Mandelbrot Sets before, it wasn't all that hard.

"Yes! Thanks, Artemis." She grabbed his hand and pulled him through some halls and down some stairs, and Artemis realized just how eerily calm Conroy Castle was.

Zn+1= Z2n+C

Ada told Artemis to have a seat on the couch in front of a large monitor, and she turned on the computer and pulled up her program.

"Assuming you know about how many times a number has to be plugged into the equation to go around the loop and be assigned a color and all that…" Ada said, still happily clicking things on the screen.

"Yes, of course." Artemis said politely, still wanting to take care of the _Titanic_ business. Trying to make friendly conversation, he added: "Did you design this program yourself?"

Ada perked up and happily said, "Yup! Took me a while and my parents had to do most of the work, but I like to just pick random points and zoom in, you know? Here, it's starting!" She eagerly went back to the couch and sat next to Artemis, pumping her tiny firsts up and down anxiously waiting for the magnification to start.

The video began, the picture of the Mandelbrot Set in its full size on the screen. A point was selected, the very tip of the point on the Mandelbeetle, as Ada called it.

Artemis, now slightly intrigued, watched the colors progress and patterns reappear. The zooming got faster and faster it seemed, going deeper and deeper into the Mset.

Ada, now completely still, continued to watch with interest. Artemis glanced over at her, from time to time. Her brown eyes never left the screen.

The room, now much darker than before, had an eerie blue glow, as if the entire room was shrouded by a computer screen's LCD lights. Which, in a sense, it was.

Artemis was only focused on the Mandelbrot set, continuing to zoom farther and farther in. All thoughts of the _Titanic _had left him, his mind now completely blank. Four what seemed like an hour, the Mset's zooming continued, occasionally zooming out and going back in to a different area.

Coming back to his sense momentarily, he glanced back at Ada. Her brown eyes were watering, her eyes hadn't left the screen.

"What's wrong, Ada?" Artemis asked, again being polite.

"It's just… nobody has bothered to stay this long to watch the Mset with me. Not even my parents will sit here with me for over ten minutes. They're always too bored or busy. My friends just think I'm weird, and my dog, even before she died, would always just jump off the couch and wander away… but you've been here this whole time…"

Her sobbing continued. Artemis was thinking something about teens with mood swings, but soon realized this wasn't Ada's problem. She just didn't have companions with similar interests, her psychologically destroyed childhood because she could never be good enough for her parents, and they were never home anyway. Life had been unfair to her. There wasn't much she could do.

Artemis patted her shoulder comfortingly. "Ada, I know how it is," he lied, "I don't have many friends either. Many of the ones I do have don't even like me that much…" he tried to dumb down his vocabulary for her.

Ada sat, her crying quieted, she now looked at the screen again, watching her only friend – the Mandelbrot Set – continue to grow and grow. Artemis, with his hand still on her shoulder, looked back at the screen as well.

It was only a moment before he felt Ada jump onto him and kiss him passionately. He was about to push away from her, but realized he didn't mind. He had never been kissed by a human girl before… and Ada was so beautiful… and she was just a girl with psychological problems and no real friends… he could relate…

He wrapped his arms around her, and her hands clasped behind his head, her fingers running through his black hair.

They were on the couch for quite a while, kissing fervently, until they rolled off when Ada shifted positions. Even on the floor, they didn't want to stop, the two teens lip-locked happily until Ada pulled away, stopping to breathe.

With their arms still around each other, and Artemis's face a fire truck shade of red, Ada laughed, gasped for air, and just laid there for a while. She kissed him once more, and stood up, brushing herself off, and happily skipped up the stairs.

Artemis, startled, didn't quite fathom what had just happened. He didn't move for a couple of minutes, and then got back up.

Zn+1= Z2n+C

When he reached the front door, he couldn't find Ada, but a phone number was stuck on a post-it to the door. He put it in his pocket, and walked out, shutting the door behind him. Butler reached back and opened the door for him.

"Good man, Butler." He said, still a little frazzled.

"Artemis, what happened to your hair?" Butler asked him, pulling out of the driveway.

"I fell off a couch…" Artemis said truthfully, looking out the window back at Conroy Castle.

Butler laughed, and then asked, "Did you get the information about the _Titanic _that you wanted?"

Artemis waited for a while, then replied, "Well, not quite, but I did get something else."

Butler decided to leave it at that.

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DO NOT READ THIS SECTION UNTIL YOU HAVE READ GHOST FROM THE GRAND BANKS

A few days later, Artemis was on his computer, looking for something to do. He decided to check the world news page, not thinking there was anything he didn't know about. He clicked on the first story, and pulled the post-it off the side of his monitor where he kept it. He picked up his phone, about to call Ada, and then read the story as the phone rang on the other line.

IRISH MILLIONAIRES' DAUGHTER DIES IN FREAK ACCIDENT

_Ada Craig, daughter of Donald and Edith Craig, was found dead last Wednesday under a fallen tree. A flash of lightning struck the tree while she was near it, and it fell over, crushing her by Lake Mandelbrot, on the property of Conroy Castle…_

There was a faint, "Hello?" On the other line, and Artemis, staring at the screen, dropped the phone.

Ada was dead.


End file.
